Black Friday: Tips, deals for the big buying day

Shopping on Black Friday? You may be too late. More and more retailers are jumping the gun and turning Thanksgiving evening into Late Black Thursday.

Walmart, Target, Macy's, Best Buy, Kohl's, Disney Stores and Toys "R'' Us plan to open at midnight or earlier instead of waiting for the 5 a.m. Friday stampede.

But the earlier-is-better trend is trickier than it sounds:

In Massachusetts, earlier start times ran smack into the state's 17th-century Blue Laws that prohibit retailers from opening until midnight after Thanksgiving, The Boston Globereports. Since a midnight start means workers had to be on the job earlier to get ready, it violated the law, so retailers in the Bay State retreated. Macy's plans a 12:30 a.m. start, Target will open at 1 a.m., and Walmart will unlock its doors at 4 a.m.

One Target employee in Omaha, Anthony Hardwick, started an online petition calling on the company to cancel its 11 p.m. Thursday opening to give workers more time to spend with their families on Thanksgiving.

How big will shopping be this season? A holiday retail sales forecast of $465 billion for 2011 might sound like a whopper, but the National Retail Federation calls it "average" since it represents only a 2.8% increase over last year. On the other hand, it slightly outstrips the 10-year average holiday sales increase of 2.6%, the NRF says. To try to combat an "average" turnout, retailers are combining "strong promotions and lean inventory levels," says NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay.

Let your apps do the walking. USA TODAY's Jayne O'Donnell, who writes the Confident Consumer column, says sharp shoppers on Black Friday will be armed with apps to do their homework right in the store. She counsels consumers to limit the number of shopping-related apps you download and suggests that you stick with store apps that truly add utility, such as Home Depot's, which can scan QR bar codes in the store and pull up reviews of products.

Jennifer Waters, who writes MarketWatch for The Wall Street Journal, says shoppers should expect shelves to be a tad bare as retailers, burned by piles of unsold goods at the outset of the recession, move into "tight inventory-control mode."

Deals: Best Buy is pushing big "doorbuster" specials, including a Sharp 42-inch HDTV for $199 and a Nook Touch reader for $79. Home Depot offers the Dyson DC33 Vacuum for $298. Sam's Club pitches a Samsung 51-inch plasma HDTV for $498. In true holiday spirit, Sears Appliance and Hardware offers a doorbuster price of $499 on a Craftsman 22-inch path, dual-stage snow thrower.

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About Doug Stanglin

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About Michael Winter

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